We started our trip on the west coast in Galway, and of course it was drizzling. First we drove on the “wrong” side of the street to Dunguaire Castle and because of low tide we were all able to walk around it. After listening to a lot of Irish songs on the bus, we went to the “Baby Cliffs of Moher”. But they were too small for us, so we went on to the great Cliffs of Moher (200m). There we had the best lunch ever: A chocolate thing, a little cupcake and for our health a very tiny apple and a bottle of uisce mianraí.

“In memory of those who have lost their lives at the Cliffs of Moher” said a memorial stone at the edge. We were very excited, but our teachers were only afraid that we could drop. Suddenly the sun came out. We were confused because we had thought that Ireland didn’t have any sun. On our way back home we made some more stops, e.g. at Lahinch Beach, and watched the tide come in. We also saw dolmen (5000-year-old stone tables and graves) and the matchmaking village Lisdoonvarna, where single farmers hope to find their future wives. After a dinner at the fish and chips restaurant we learned about the bloody history of Galway on a guided tour, e.g. the origin of the expression “to lynch somebody”.

Slán go fóill! (Bernhard, Jacob, Marcel)

Monday, 4 April 2016:

Today we woke up at seven o'clock. One look out of the window made us relieved, because it didn't seem like it would rain. On the way to Dingle we had a break at Adare, where we saw some beautiful cottages with thatched roofs, which are typical of Ireland. After two more hours of bus driving we finally arrived at Dingle. We were excited about the boat trip and if we would see a real dolphin, which we did!

Then we drove along the coast and stopped a couple of times at beautiful locations to take pictures. Our new hostel was in Killarney, a cute tiny town where we had a delicious dinner (Irish stew or curry). After the exhausting day we were happy to be able to relax and fall asleep. (Roxana, Ibragim)

Tueday, 5 April 2016:

Just a short drive away from the picturesque city Killarney we had our first stop on the long way to Dublin. Muckross House is an old building in Killarney’s National Park. On our guided tour through the house we saw a lot of original furniture and portraits of the former house owners. Queen Victoria from England also stayed there once for two nights.

Afterwards we made a quick stop at the Rock of Cashel, an old castle on the top of a “mountain”, and we were impressed by Kilkenny Castle with its beautiful gardens. Finally we arrived at Dublin and we were excited to meet our host families. Our land lady was very nice and friendly. She took us home, where we got dinner and talked a lot. (Aurelia, Johanna)

Wednesday, 6 April 2016:

Today after the first night at the host families, we had to find our way to the Atlas Language School in Dublin. Our teachers were friendly and tried to tell us some funny jokes we didn't fully get. In the afternoon we made a music tour through Dublin. Our guides (an actor and a language teacher) told us about famous singers and bands such as U2 and in which pubs they had already performed. At the famous fishmonger statue they sang the unofficial anthem of Dublin: Molly Malone. Even our teachers sang along with them. The tour ended at a famous chemist's which was described in James Joyce's "Ulysses" in 1922. (Felix, Gabriel)

Thursday, 7 April 2016:

On Thursday everyone attended the school for the second time. The teacher told the class a joke: "A skeleton came into a bar and ordered a beer and a mop." After four hours of learning new things about Ireland our group had two options: One group headed to Croke Park, where they tried out Gaelic Football, a combination of soccer and rugby, and hurling, which is a mixture of lacrosse and baseball. The others went shopping in streets like Grafton Street, where the Disney Store is located. If you cross the Ha'penny Bridge you can go to Henry Street, where many different kinds of shops like Penneys known as Primark are. From there you could see The Spire and around you were many street artists, musicians and people from around the world. A vivid street experience. After a long shopping tour everyone took the bus to their host families to finally enjoy the last evening before the departure tomorrow. (Viktoria, Julia)

Friday, 8 April 2016:

Our day started at 7 o’clock. After taking a picture with our host family, our landlord drove us to the bus stop because we had to take our suitcases with us to the language school. On the bus we met two of our colleagues, so the ride was very funny and we laughed a lot. At school we learned typical Irish songs such as “Molly Mallone” and “Whiskey in the Jar”. So, school was good fun. We went to Dublin Airport by bus and we had to hurry to get something to eat. We took off a little delayed but landed safely and on time in Memmingen, Germany. However, one of us forgot his jacket on board of the plane so we had to wait, again. Finally we were on the coach back to Steyr. Dochreidte, kleiner Juniorbuschauffeur! That was the end of a great journey. Slán! (Daniel, Marcel)